As part of managing an estate after someone has passed, it can be challenging to determine if they had life insurance policies. Begin by reviewing their files and storage locations such as filing cabinets or safe deposit boxes.
Review past employers as well as any professional and social organizations where the candidate may have participated, especially ones which provide member benefits like discounted group life insurance policies.
Check with the Deceased’s Bank
Life insurance policies offer beneficiaries of deceased policyholders financial aid upon their death to help pay final expenses and debts owed by the policyholder, while also offering cash value accumulation and accelerated benefits while they’re alive.
Unfortunately, it can be challenging to track down and claim the payout of a deceased loved one’s policy after they pass. However, there are ways you can check to see if your loved one had one in place.
One method involves reaching out to the deceased’s financial advisors and accountants. These professionals may have access to lists of clients with life insurance policies as well as state databases of unclaimed property that hold unclaimed items.
Another option is using a national database which allows for state-based policy searches. Such websites allow you to enter details like social security number, legal name of deceased individual and date of death into their search bar; then this website contacts any life insurance providers to see if there are records matching what was submitted by entering those details into its system.
Check their files and file cabinets (if available), safe deposit box (if accessible), bank statements for payments to life insurance companies and tax returns for interest income or cash distributions; as well as contact their employer to determine whether they had group life insurance or memberships in certain organizations such as professional associations or veterans’ groups.
Once you’ve located a life insurance policy, the next step should be submitting a claim with the insurer. To do this, provide both a certified death certificate and their claim form.
Check with the Deceased’s Employer
After the death of a loved one, you may become responsible for handling his or her affairs, including financial ones such as life insurance policies. If you suspect that their deceased spouse, parent, sibling or another member had one and is entitled to death benefits as per his policy agreement then there are various methods you can employ in order to find out whether any death benefits were claimed by them and how to go about retrieving these.
If your loved one was still making payments before passing away, you can reach out to the company that issued it and ask whether they have records of a deceased policy owner. This is particularly pertinent when purchasing group life insurance through an employer; employers usually keep these records for such policies.
Your loved one’s filing cabinet and computer files may contain evidence of life insurance policies; if their paperwork was stored in a safe deposit box, that should also help identify documents pertaining to life insurance policies. In addition, former employers of your loved one might offer life or annuity policies as part of a workplace benefit program that could offer life insurance or annuities as an option.
Review any business cards your loved one may possess as well as their address books or personal phone directories for names of insurance agents, attorneys, accountants and investment professionals who could potentially provide information for life insurance and investment matters. It would also be wise to get advice from these people directly as they may already have files with important details on your loved one in place.
Some states mandate that insurance companies check the Social Security Master Death List before notifying beneficiaries. While this process takes time, you could also inquire with their place of work or union regarding any records of life insurance or annuities purchased during this person’s employment/union affiliation that could indicate they purchased these types of coverages or annuities during their time here.
Check with the Deceased’s Insurance Agent
Many individuals hold life insurance policies through work or as group benefits available from fraternal or professional organizations, which may provide information to next of kin or beneficiaries. It would be advisable for next of kin or beneficiaries of deceased to contact any employers, professional fraternal organizations and former employers of their deceased loved one to determine if any records exist of their policy coverage.
As you sift through the deceased’s papers, keep an eye out for evidence of insurance payments such as cancelled checks. Some insurers will send annual statements or premium bills even though payments have stopped; similarly check his or her filing system, home and bank safety deposit boxes as well as address books for names of any financial professionals that could lead to life policies.
If you can’t locate any details, talk with the deceased’s insurance agent and see if they remember selling him or her a policy. Also review car and home policies sold through that same agent to see if both types were covered by their agent. Attorneys, accountants or financial planners may know of companies they worked with who can also be helpful – contact them if necessary for more assistance in finding information on life insurance providers.
If you still can’t locate a policy, request that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners search their Lost Policy Database – this service is free for next of kin, estate executors, or designated beneficiaries of deceased individuals. Alternatively, National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators has listed contact information for each state department of unclaimed property that can conduct searches as well.
Check with the Deceased’s Financial Advisor
If your deceased loved one had a financial advisor, give them a call immediately. They might have already reached out to the life insurance provider on his or her behalf and can assist in filing a claim on your behalf. Furthermore, they might possess copies of policy documentation.
Search the personal records, files, safe deposit boxes and address books of a deceased individual to locate business cards of insurance agents, brokers and financial planners who could have assisted with purchasing life insurance policies. Furthermore, bank statements, credit card statements and other financial records could provide insights into term life premium payments or cash value transfers from whole life policies; IRS tax returns or supplemental filings could show income from accumulation loans to permanent policies as well.
People tend to bundle life insurance policies with auto and homeowners policies. You should contact both companies that covered your loved one in order to find out if they sold life insurance as part of their policy, or try reaching out to previous employers, professional associations and unions in which they belonged (such as unions or fraternal organizations) to see if they offered group life policies as workplace benefits.
There are services that conduct searches of multiple national and state databases to determine whether your loved one had life insurance, but these searches often prove costly with limited results. Another alternative may be contacting your state’s insurance department (insuring is regulated by individual states), and asking them to search their records – but these may incur fees themselves. You could also try the free service provided by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators that scans through participating life insurers records for you.
Check with the Deceased’s Insurance Company
Life insurance policies provide vital funds to their loved ones after death, enabling them to cover burial expenses, living costs and debt, education costs and bills, etc. There are different kinds of policies, such as term and whole life policies that can be combined with auto and home policies; others even provide accelerated benefits while the policyholder is alive to pay for care needs or other needs.
There are a few steps you can take to determine if a deceased family member had an unclaimed life insurance policy. Checking with their insurer is the first step; generally they will contact their beneficiaries when they discover they’ve passed on by searching through Social Security Master Death Index to locate them, Progressive reports. If none are located, then other members may be reached out.
As part of your investigation, it may also be wise to review any personal documents and financial paperwork associated with the deceased, specifically bank statements and check registers, for payments to life insurance companies or evidence that an existing policy exists (such as interest paid on accumulations for whole life policies). You should also examine their address book, phone directory and email accounts as this might contain names of insurance agents; you might even reach out to financial professionals or friends who knew them to see if any recall discussing life insurance or investment matters with them in person.
If these resources have proven unsuccessful in helping you locate the policy, contacting your state’s insurance department might be the next step. They typically provide unclaimed life insurance money and property and offer free tools that you can use to search for it.
